Mushroom Leek Cornbread Stuffing

My two favorite holidays are Thanksgiving and Passover. No big mystery why – they are both food-centered. When it turned out that the theme of our monthly Progressive Eats Dinner Party is A Vegetarian Thanksgiving, I immediately began to imagine variations on my favorite Thanksgiving stuffing. It didn’t take long to turn the original version into this mushroom leek cornbread stuffing.

I grew up in the Northeast, with bread cube stuffing. It is perfectly wonderful. My friend Lafe is from Arkansas. His stuffing recipe calls for three kinds of bread (cornbread, “regular” breadcrumbs, and saltines) formed into balls and baked with vegetables, broth, and seasonings. After just one taste, I went head over heels for his version.

The changes (from Lafe’s original) put the emphasis on the vegetables. It’s also more subtle in its seasoning. I’ve swapped out onions for leeks, and thyme for sage. As the name indicates there are mushrooms in it now, and red bell pepper too. What remains are the texture – slightly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside – and the slightly sweet taste of cornbread.

Part of the fun of this recipe is crumbling up the cornbread with your hands. For those who know Lucille Ball, think of the episode where she stomps grapes. This is much more sanitary, but almost as much fun.

The chopping and sautéing of the vegetable ingredients is not difficult and doesn’t take too long.

Then it’s a simple matter to add the 3 types of bread/crackers and form the mixture into balls.

After the mushroom leek cornbread stuffing balls bake, you can serve them, refrigerate them and re-heat (if you’ll use them within a few days), or freeze them. I’ve also frozen the stuffing balls unbaked, defrosted them and baked them just before serving. Depending on what else you serve, count on 1-2 balls per person.

I like them “dry” because I like to keep the crunch, but my husband says gravy adds a whole new dimension.

My son Liam likes them as leftovers; after trying them at an early Thanksgiving dinner, the next day he sliced two mushroom leek cornbread stuffing balls in half, and stuffed them with cranberry sauce and a bunch of other leftovers into a mile-high sandwich that was quite a sight. (Sadly, I didn’t get a good enough photo for this post.)

Crumble the cornbread. Add the breadcrumbs and saltine crumbs and set that mixture aside in a medium-size bowl.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter or oil a large baking sheet. (The baking sheet should have at least 1-inch sides to prevent broth from dripping off the pan.)

Melt one tablespoon of the butter (or heat the oil) in a large pan. Sauté the leeks, garlic, celery, and bell pepper under a medium high light for about 6-7 minutes until the leeks are softened.

Add the second tablespoon of butter or oil, then the chopped mushrooms, salt, and pepper. Mix everything together, and continue sautéing for another 3-4 minutes until the mushrooms have begun to soften.

Add the sage and parsley and stir.

Take the mixture off the stovetop, add the egg, about 3/4 cup of the broth, and the breadcrumb/cracker crumb mixture. Mix to thoroughly combine everything. Form the mixture into balls somewhere between the size of golf balls and baseballs. The heat of your hands should make the mixture malleable, but if the mixture is too dry, add a bit more broth.

Place the balls on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Drizzle about 3/4 cup of broth over the tops of the balls and bake them for 35-50 minutes (depending on size) until they are slightly brown and a bit crusty on the outside. Check midway through and if the stuffing balls seem too dry, drizzle a bit more broth on them.

Recipe Notes

I used Trader Joe's cornbread mix, which calls for 1 egg, 1/2 cup of oil and 3/4 cup of milk (not pictured with the ingredients) to make an 8-inch x 8-inch square. You only need half of that cornbread to make one batch of these stuffing balls. (The original cornbread stuffing ball recipe is double this one.)

Share this Recipe

As I mentioned above, this post is part of a monthly virtual Progressive Dinner Party called Progressive Eats. This month our host is Susan Pridmore,who blogs at The Wimpy Vegetarian.

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, a progressive dinner involves going from house to house, enjoying a different course at each location. With Progressive Eats, a theme is chosen each month, members share recipes suitable for a delicious meal or party, and you can hop from blog to blog to check them out.

We have a core group of 12 bloggers, but take on substitutes and if there is enough interest would consider additional groups. To see our upcoming themes and how you can participate, please check out the schedule at Creative Culinary or contact Barb for more information.

Look at you, being a good Southern girl and making cornbread stuffing! Wonderful! I’ve never made it into balls because I like the soft part more than the crunchy part, but I do love the idea–plus they are so fun looking! I like the modifications you made to your friend’s recipe, and leeks are always a buttery, wonderful addition! Hope your Thanksgiving is wonderful, Laura!

Jenni, So we’d be a perfect pair – I’d eat all the crunchy stuff on the outside and you could take over for the soft part. As to me being a good Southern girl – if I’m not a good girl in NY, I wonder if I could pass for one south of the Mason-Dixon line:)?

What a delightful twist on the traditional stuffing Laura! I love cornbread and usually add some regular bread cubes to lighten it up a bit. Leeks are one of my favorite aromatics to use and this whole combination sounds incredible. I cannot wait to try it out – probable for our Christmas dinner!! Thanks for a fun new recipe to try and have a fun and delicious Thanksgiving!

I didn’t grow up with cornbread stuffing, but like many recent converts, I’m now obsessed. Hope you make some for your kids – then you can share the cornbread memories and they’ll know what you’re talking about.